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The Pursuer
The Pursuer is an optional boss and later an enemy in Dark Souls II. Description The Pursuer is a mysterious figure who relentlessly hunts the Bearer of the Curse. The Pursuer tracks the Bearer to the Forest of Fallen Giants, The Lost Bastille, the Iron Keep and lastly Drangleic Castle. Lore The Pursuer is a large hulking knight who hunts down those who bear the undead curse, possibly to atone for past sins committed.Pursuer's Ultra Greatsword description. Wielding an ultra greatsword renowned for being one of the mightiest of its design,Pursuer's Ultra Greatsword description. the Pursuer will relentlessly stalk its target until slain. It is unknown if the Pursuer served under King Vendrick, as did many other knights, or if it acted off of its own accord. Locations *The same Pursuer can be encountered in two different areas in the Forest of Fallen Giants. It doesn't matter which location it is defeated in. *#The Pursuer is first encountered on a raised platform a short distance past the Cardinal Tower bonfire. The Pursuer is dropped by a large bird and can only be fought once in this location. Dying, or leaving the platform, will prompt the Pursuer to move on to its second location. No health bar will appear during this fight. *#The Pursuer's actual boss fight can be found past a locked door that can only be opened with the Soldier Key. The Pursuer will stay here even if the player is killed. *Another Pursuer can be found in the Smelter Demon's boss arena, if the player returns there after the Demon's defeat. *In NG+, two Pursuers appear simultaneously in the throne room behind Chancellor Wellager in Drangleic Castle. Scholar of the First Sin In Scholar of the First Sin, there are several new Pursuers in addition to the ones in the main game. *One can be found in Things Betwixt, on the beach where the two Ogres are found. *Four Pursuers can be found in The Lost Bastille: *#One can be found where the chest containing the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring is located, near The Tower Apart bonfire. *#One can be found just below the Servants' Quarters bonfire, accessed through the nearby ladder. *#One can be found in the courtyard near McDuff's Workshop. To access this area, the player must first enter the Bastille through No-man's Wharf, or defeat the Ruin Sentinels and take a large drop to get into the courtyard. *#One can be found close to the Bracing Knuckle Ring, in an area accessed after traversing two illusory walls. One of the NG+ Pursuers in Drangleic Castle's throne room spawns already-buffed by his Curse Stab. Attacks Charge At a distance, the Pursuer will charge at the player with an upward strike. The easiest way to avoid, is walking to the right as soon as the animation starts. 3 Hit Combo Performs two horizontal swipes and if all attacks are performed while the player is still near him, will follow it up with a full 360° spin attack or an overhead smash. Shield Bash He uses his shield and hits the player once with it, causes large stamina drain if blocked. Curse Stab The Pursuer's Blade glows blue and he lunges the sword at the player, if it connects, the player will be in an animation where they are impaled on his sword and the player will then be cursed. This attack cannot be blocked. The hitbox lingers for some time, so while the attack's long windup and low tracking makes it easy to avoid, one can also accidentally walk back into it after dodging it. Dark Seeker Projectiles The Pursuer will lift into the air and vent Dark energy from its body. This will cause 3 to 5 projectiles to exit its body and fire towards the player after a short delay, similar to the Affinity Hex. The projectiles are slow but track extremely well and deal a moderate amount of damage. Typically, this attack occurs after he has dropped below 50% health, but on rare occasion it can happen before. To avoid it, simply run behind the Pursuer as soon as he starts casting it. Spread Projectiles Similar to the Seeker Projectiles this attack starts with the same animation, but it fires several waves of spreading hex like attacks. These attacks can be dodged by rolling backwards away from the Pursuer and the next attacks will follow the relative direction of the first blast. (the attack has a similar look to the Hex Dark Hail, but lighter in color). Energy Blast Swings his sword and produces an energy blast in the players direction. The Pursuer in Iron Keep cannot use this move. Combo 2 While blocking with his greatshield, quickly thrusts his weapon twice. He then swings his sword like a whirlwind while ascending a little from the ground. Strategy The Pursuer's combos mainly come in threes, with the third strike leaving him vulnerable to a few hits afterwards. Although the Pursuer is an agile opponent, parrying him immobilizes him for several seconds. This allows ample time for a counterattack, and more importantly allows the player to employ ballistae against him. On NG, if all three ballista bolts hit, 90% of his health can be taken out. A sizable chunk of his health is taken off even if not all of the bolts hit. The Buckler received just before the second bonfire in the forest will make parrying easier. Note that the Pursuer can be poisoned with weapons or two casts of the pyromancy Poison Mist. Having two weapons at your disposal is a good way to poison him then switch to your more powerful weapon, Poison Ricard's Rapier +10 with two strong attacks will poison him, hence then switching to your main weapon for further damage is a good strategy. At the start of the fight, you have time before he fully materializes to initiate a poison. Most of his attacks can be evaded if the player rolls to the right (his shielded side). However, this is not advised when he uses his three-hit combo as the spinning slash can still strike the player from the side. In particular, running away to bait his charge and then dodging through it, followed by an attack (Don't use the rolling attack, as it will most likely miss) is a very good tactic, so long as the player knows what the window of invincibility is for their character. (I-Frames) He is vulnerable to lightning damage and somewhat vulnerable to magic. He is also capable of inflicting Curse on the player. This attack is telegraphed by the Pursuer extending its arms and hovering slowly toward the player, the sword will glow blue and the Pursuer will lunge forward, impaling the player, then lift them into and release a Curse-inducing cloud. It is possible to avoid getting cursed if the player is killed by the initial lunge. If the player is successfully Cursed by this move, the Pursuer will get a power boost, evidenced by its glowing, red eyes and a black mist surrounding it. This allows the Pursuer to release Dark orbs that homes in on the player. If any of the orbs connect with the player, they will deal massive damage and cause Curse build-up. For the third encounter in Drangleic Castle, an easier way of obtaining the Ring of Blades +2 is to defeat one of the Pursuers, return to the King's Gate bonfire, then go back for a one-on-one battle against the second Pursuer. Defenses Pursuer (Forest of Fallen Giants) Drops Ring of Blades+1 | Ring Ring of Blades.png | Guaranteed | res2 = Iron Keep | Ring of Blades Ring of Blades+2 | Ring Ring of Blades.png | Guaranteed | res3 = Drangleic Castle ||| | Soul of the Pursuer | Boss Soul.png | Guaranteed | res5 = Forest of Fallen Giants | Twinkling Titanite (Dark Souls II) Twinkling Titanite | Item Twinkling Titanite.png| Guaranteed | res6 = Drangleic Castle) SotFS: (The Lost Bastille }} Notes *The Pursuer seems to take increased damage from Lightning and Strike attacks. *The Pursuer is vulnerable to Poison. *When using a Bonfire Ascetic in the Cardinal Tower of the Forest of Fallen Giants, the Pursuer will not drop into the area that he can be fought outside of his boss room. This only happens once per playthrough. *When encountered in Forest of Fallen Giants, it is possible for him to go outside the arena, causing him to be unable to use attacks other than his basic swings. *In Scholar of the First Sin, a bug may occur with the Pursuer fought in the Forest of Fallen Giants which may prevent him from moving or attacking. This bug can happen if player performs a guard break on him while he is emerging from the ground. (confirmation needed) *Being cursed whilst fighting the two Pursuers in Drangleic Castle will prompt one of them to leave. This only occurs if both Pursuers are still present. As of patch 1.10, this no longer works. *In Drangleic Castle, dying after defeating one pursuer will cause the player to lose their drop, whether it be the Ring of Blades+2, or the Twinkling Titanite. *When he is fought for the first time in his boss room, he will be met by a cutscene, leading him to instantly being able to attack. But the times after that, he will slowly emerge from the ground, meaning that the player is able to use a ranged attack, so long as they can dodge the lunge attack afterwards. Trivia *The Pursuer's armor has several faces, which appear to be contorted in agony, carved into it. *The Pursuer has several weapons bundled into a sheet on its back, forming a sort of quiver. These weapons are the size for a normal human's use, too small for the Pursuer to use. **The Pursuers in Drangleic Castle do not have this quiver. *The Pursuer's helmet bears a resemblance to the Elite Knight Helm. Gallery enter his arena.png|The Pursuer enters the arena helmet of pursuer.jpg|The Pursuer's helmet visor glows red pursuer.jpg|Pursuer in Forest of Fallen Giants 2014-09-24 00017.jpg|Pursuer in the Iron Keep Pursuer as Big Brother.jpeg|Immobile Pursuer with the Bearer of the Curse The Pursuer Concept 1.png|Pursuer's concept art The Pursuer Concept 2.png|Pursuer's concept art Videos Dark Souls II Stream Highlight The Pursuer Dark Souls II How To Beat The Pursuer Dark Souls II - Walkthrough 4 - The Pursuer Boss Fight Dark Souls 2 - The Pursuer (Ballista) Music pl:Prześladowca References Category:Dark Souls II: Bosses Category:Dark Souls II: Optional Bosses